Stacking chair with arms



Feb. 22, 1966 H. J. KAUFMAN STACKING CHAIR WITH ARMS ATTORNEYS.

Filed Dec. 13, 1963 United States Patent 3,236,559 STACKING CHAIR WITHARMS Hans J. Kaufman, 14 Dunlop Road, Huntington, Long Island, N.Y.Filed Dec. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 330,306 4 Claims. (Cl. 297-239) Thisinvention relates to chairs that stack upon one another when not in useand when it is desired to store the chairs in a smaller floor space.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved stackable chairwhich is of attractive appearance and which is not made with the usualawkward construction that results from concessions in design that areused to obtain the stacking feature for the chair.

Another object is to provide a sta-ckable chair having arms and with thearms a part of the chair that connects with the back as in a captainschair.

The chair of this invention obtains greater comfort for an occupant byhaving arms located outside of the side frames that nest when the chairsare stacked. Thus, arm supports for the occupant are located furtherapart than in chairs of the prior art where the only arm rests have beenthe tops of the side frames that nest with one another and where greaterwidth for the arm-supporting surfaces would require that the entireframe of the chair be made wider.

Another advantage of the construction of this invention is the improvedstrength provided by the geometry of the parts of the frame and theirrelation to one another.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear orbe pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like referencecharacters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a chair made in accordance with thisinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the chair shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a front view of the chair shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the chair shown in the other figures, stackedwith a like chair;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in section on the line5-5 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is an isometric view, on a reduced scale, showing a modifiedform of the invention.

The chair of this invention includes side frames 11 and 12, each ofwhich includes a front leg 14 and a back leg 16. These legs 14 and 16converge toward one another and are rigidly connected together at anupper end 18 of the side frame at a vertex as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.

The front legs 14 are connected together by a transverse frame element20 (FIGURE 3) which has its ends connected to the front legs 14. Thetransverse frame element 20 is of substantial vertical height andhas itsend faces in contact with the front legs 14 over a substantial verticalarea to provide a strong rigid connection between the front legs 14. Asimilar transverse frame element 22 (FIGURES 1 and 2) connects the backlegs 16.

The chair has a seat 26 which is preferably supported from thetransverse frame elements 20 and 22, but which may be immediately abovethe transverse frame elements 20 and 22 and connected directly to thelegs 14 and 16 with spacers so that the legs will not rub against theseat.

This seat 26, and strips 44 whether connected to the transverse frameelements 20 and 22, or to the legs 14 and 16, or to all of theseelements, forms, with the legs 14 and 16, rigid A frames at both sidesof the chair to obtain a particularly strong construction resulting fromthe inherent characteristics of a triangular linkage. The

3,236,559 Patented Feb. 22, 1966 "ice seat 26 is confined between theinner faces of the side frames 11 and 12, as shown best in FIGURE 2, andthus the A frames formed by the legs 14 and 16, and the seat 26, willnest within one another to permit stacking of the chairs, as clearlyshown in FIGURE 4.

In the illustrated construction, at the upper end 18 of each of the sideframes 11 and 12 there is an upper element 28 which has its forwardportions 30 connected to the side frames 11 and 12, and a mid portion 32extending across the back of the chair. Thus, the forward portions 30form arms for the chair and the mid portion 32 forms a part of the backof the chair. The arms need not be of one-piece construction with theback, however, and may be connected with a back panel of a captainschair, as previously explained and as shown in FIG- URE 6.

In the construction illustrated, the rest of the back is formed by aplurality of vertically-extending elements 36 which are separate fromone another and which have their lower ends connected to the seat 26 andthe upper ends connected to the mid portion 32 of the upper element 28.These connections at the upper and lower ends of the back elements 36are rigid connections which brace the entire chair structure and whichhold the elements 36 in fixed and preferably parallel relation to oneanother.

It is one feature of the invention that the forward portions or arms 30are connected to the side frames 11 and 12 with the inside faces of thearms 30 in contact with the outside surfaces of the side frames 11 and12. This spaces the arms 30 further apart than if they were located ontop of the side frames and thus makes the chair more comfortable for anoccupant without requiring that the entire chair be made wider. It alsopermits the arms to extend rearward to the back of the chair and toconnect with the back. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the A frames haveupper surfaces at their vertices, and the forward ends of the arms havesurfaces that are flush with the upper surfaces at said vertices of theA frames.

Although a more attractive appearance is obtained by having the arms 30terminate at the side frames 11 and 12, these arms 30 can be madelonger, if desired, so that they extend forward of the upper ends 18 ofthe side frames. The construction illustrated has the upper ends of theside frames located more than one-third of the distance from the back ofthe seat 26 to the front of the seat and thus termination of the arms 30at the side frames 11 and 12 provides sufliciently long arms, especiallyin a chair which has a sloping back that locates the occupants shouldersmore rearwardly than in a straight-back chair.

FIGURE 3 shows the transverse frame element 20 with a curved top surfacethat slopes downward to its lowest level at a mid region across thewidth of the chair. The rearward transverse frame element 22 is preerably of similar construction. The seat 26 is made of a bottom layer ofrelatively thin plywood 42 which is curved to fit the transverse concavecurvature of the frame elements 20 and 22. Metal strips 44 attached tothe frame elements 20 and 22 and to the back elements 36 hold the frameelements 20 and 22 and the back panel elements 36 is a fixed positionrelative to each other. The strips 44 complete the side triangles, priorto the assembly of the seat.

On top of the plywood 42 there is an upholstered sea 46 secured to theplywood. In a transverse direction, the seat 46 has a concave curvaturefor greater comfort, and the upholstery is preferably built up somewhatat the front.

FIGURE 4 shows two chairs in stacked relation to one another. The lowerchair is the chair illustrated in FIG- URES 1-3 and the upper chair is alike chair with corresponding parts indicated by the same referencecharacters but with a prime appended. It will be evident from FIG- URE 4that the chairs are stacked by inserting the back legs 16 of the upperchair into the space within the arms 30 of the lower chair and intocontact with the top surface of the corresponding legs of the lowerchair. The arms 30 serve as abutments to prevent transverse displacementof the back legs 16 of the upper chair in the event of any shifting ofthe upper chair, and thus the chairs are held against distortion of thestack in a direction transverse of the chair while the nesting of the Aframes holds the chairs against distortion of the stack in afore-and-aft direction.

When chairs of the construction illustrated are stacked, the stack hasa'slight forward slope, as illustrated by the lines 58 and 59. Thisslope permits the bottoms of the back legs 16 to pass the arm-back unitsof the chair frames.

Because of the extent of the upper element 28 beyond the rearward end ofthe seat 26, the elements 36 of the back can be provided with a rearwardslope which permits nesting of the backs of the chairs, as clearly shownin FIGURE 4.

In order to prevent scratching of the legs where they contact with oneanother when stacked, the underside of each of the front legs isprovided with a groove 52 into which a strip of pad-ding 54, preferablysoft plastic, is inserted. I This padding 54 extends slightly beyond thesurface of the back legs 16 and serves as a bumper to hold the hardsurfaces of the legs out of contact with one another to preventscratching. By having a high area 55 in the groove 52 at the locationshown in FIG- URE 4, the padding 54 counteracts the taper of the legsand takes advantage'of it-to create the slight forward slope of thestack. Similar padding strips are secured in grooves in the undersurfaces of the back legs 14, but without the high areas 55. The paddingis preferably held in the grooves by adhesive'and'is of sufficientlength to extend along those parts of the legs which contact with oneanother when the chairs are stacked.

FIGURE 6 shows a modified form of the invention in which the chair has aback panel 61 connected at its lower end with the frame assembly andwith arms 63 at locations which may be substantially below the top ofthe panel 61. This captainschair has the arms 63 'secured to the backpanel 61 but not of one-piece construction with the-back panel. Chairsof this kind can be made in different styles by using different panels(modern, early American, oriental,- etc.). The construction of thischair of FIGURE 6 is otherwise similar to that already described inconnection with the other figures of the drawing.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, but changes and modifications can be made and some featuresmay be used in different combinations without departing from theinvention as described in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A stackable chair comprising A frames at opposite sides of the chair,each A frame having a substantially straight front leg and having asubstantially straight back leg that slopes forwardly and that meets thefront leg at the upper end of the front leg at a vertex, the front andback legs being separate pieces rigidly connected together, each A framehaving an open bottom of the frame whereby the frames nest with similarside frames of a like chair when stacking the chair, the front and backlegs having their upper portions in substantially fore-and-aft alignmentwith one another, seat structure connected at opposite sides with thedifferent A frames at a substantial distance below the upper portions ofthe A frames and forming with the A frames a composite frame structure,the seat structure extending rearwardly for a substantial distancebeyond the back legs at the level of the seat structure, arms connectedto the upper portions of the A frames transversely outside of the Aframes and extending rearwardly from the A frames, a back for the chairconnected withthe arms and extending downward and being connected withthe part of the seat structure that extends beyond the back legs,the'lower part of the back being narrower than the seat structure, andthe A frames having upper surfaces at their vertices and the forwardends of the arms having surfaces that are flush with the upper surfacesat saidvertices of the A frames, said forward ends being oposite ends ofa continuous one-piece structure that forms a part of the back of thechair, the lower portions of the legs of each A frame being out ofalignment with one another, and the front legs diverging from oneanother as they extend downwardly, the lower ends of the front legsbeing more widely spaced from one another than are the back legs, thelegs tapering to a lesser fore-and-aft dimension as they extenddownward, and bumpers on at least one of the legs of each A frame of thechair and part way down from the top of the frame and holding its leg ina position diverging from the corresponding leg of the next chair of astack.

2. The stackable chair described in claim 1 characterized by the seatstructure including transverse frame structure including parallelelements with fore-and-aft spacing from one another and having curvedupper surfaces that are of progressively lower levels toward their midregions, and a seat member supported by contact with said transverseframe elements.

3. The stackable chair described in claim 2 characterized by the seatmember including a plywood bottom with metal reinforcing strips spacedtransversely from one another across the bottom of the plywood andextending fore-and-aft for at least the distance between thetransversely extending frame elements, means securing the metalreinforcing strips to the transversely extending frame elements and apadded upholstery portion of the seat on top of the plywood and securedthereto.

4. The stackable chair described in claim 1 characterized by therearward legs of the chair extending for some distance under the arms ofthe chair when the chair is resting on a level surface, the bumpersbeing on the front legs and the taper of the back legs and the height ofthe bumpers being Correlated with the extent of the rearward legs underthe arms to give a stack of like chairs a forward slope in whichthelower ends of the rearward legs of upper chairs pass the arm-backassemblies of lower chairs. 7

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCESHouse Beautiful, magazine-October 1958, page 64.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner,

1. A STACKABLE CHAIR COMPRISING A FRAMES AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE CHAIR,EACH A FRAME HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT FRONT LEG AND HAVING ASUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT BACK LEG THAT SLOPES FORWARDLY AND THAT MEETS THEFRONT LEG AT THE UPPER END OF THE FRONT LEG AT A VERTEX, THE FRONT ANDBACK LEGS BEING SEPARATE PIECES RIGIDLY CONNECTED TOGETHER, EACH A FRAMEHAVING AN OPEN BOTTOM OF THE FRAME WHEREBY THE FRAMES NEST WITH SIMILARSIDE FRAMES OF A LIKE CHAIR WHEN STACKING THE CHAIR, THE FRONT AND BACKLEGS HAVING THEIR UPPER PORTIONS IN SUBSTANTIALLY FORE-AND-AFT ALIGNMENTWITH ONE ANOTHER, SEAT STRUCTURE CONNECTED AT OPPOSITE SIDES WITH THEDIFFERENT A FRAMES AT A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE BELOW THE UPPER PORTION OFTHE A FRAMES AND FORMING WITH THE A FRAMES A COMPOSITE FRAME STRUCTURE,THE SEAT STRUCTURE EXTENDING REARWARDLY FOR A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCEBEYOND THE BACK LEGS AT THE LEVEL OF THE SEAT STRUCTURE, ARMS CONNECTEDTO THE UPPER PORTIONS OF THE A FRAMES TRANSVERSELY OUTSIDE OF TH AFRAMES AND EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM THE A FRAMES, A BACK FOR THE CHAIRCONNECTED WITH THE ARMS AND EXTENDING DOWNWARD AND BEING CONNECTED WITHTHE PART OF THE SEAT STRUCTURE THAT EXTENDS BEYOND THE BACK LEGS, THELOWER PART OF THE BACK BEING NARROWER THAN THE SEAT STRUCTURE, AND THE AFRAMES HAVING UPPER SURFACES AT THEIR VERTICES AND THE FORWARD ENDS OFTHE ARMS HAVING SURFACES THAT ARE FLUSH WITH THE UPPER SURFACES AT SAIDVERTICES OF THE A FRAMES, SAID FORWARD ENDS BEING OPPOSITE ENDS OF ACONTINUOUS ONE-PIECE STRUCTURE THAT FORMS A PART OF THE BACK OF THECHAIR, THE LOWER PORTIONS OF THE LEGS OF EACH A FRAME BEING OUT OFALIGNMENT WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND THE FRONT LEGS DIVERGING FROM ONEANOTHER AS THEY EXTEND DOWNWARDLY, THE LOWER ENDS OF THE FRONT LEGSBEING MORE WIDELY SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER THAN ARE THE BACK LEGS, THELEGS TAPERING TO A LESSER FORE-AND-AFT DIMENSION AS THEY EXTENDDOWNWARD, AND BUMPERS ON AT LEAST ONE OF THE LEGS OF EACH A FRAME OF THECHAIR AND PART WAY DOWN FROM THE TOP OF THE FRAME AND HOLDING ITS LEG INA POSITION DIVERGING FROM THE CORRESPONDING LEG OF THE NEXT CHAIR OF ASTACK.